With reference to India’s Desert National Park, which of the following statements are correct? 1) It is spread over two districts. 2) There is no human habitation inside the Park. 3) It is one of the natural habitats of Great Indian Bustard. Select the correct answer using the code given below:

The correct answer is C (1 and 3 only). Desert National Park lies in western Rajasthan and is spread across two districts, Jaisalmer and Barmer, so statement 1 is correct.

Statement 2 is wrong. Despite being a national park, it is not free of people. Several villages and pastoral communities live inside its boundary, and the park's management has to balance their grazing and livelihood needs with conservation.

Statement 3 is correct. The Great Indian Bustard, a critically endangered grassland bird, uses the park's arid grasslands as one of its natural habitats. The park was notified in 1980 and is an important site for desert biodiversity.

Core concept: the difference between a national park under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and a sanctuary, and how protected areas coexist with human settlements. This links to Mains GS-III on conservation versus livelihood and to the role of eco-sensitive zones.

Trap: assuming every national park is completely human-free, which leads to wrongly rejecting statement 2 or accepting it without checking.